CEREBRAL BLOOD-FLOW AND LEFT-VENTRICULAR OUTPUT IN SPONTANEOUSLY BREATHING, NEWBORN PRETERM INFANTS TREATED WITH CAFFEINE OR AMINOPHYLLINE

Aminophylline and caffeine are commonly used for prophylaxis of apnea in premature infants. Previous studies have indicated different effect s of the drugs on cerebral circulation. Therefore, we have compared th e acute effects of bolus administration of caffeine citrate or aminoph ylline on left ventricular output, heart rate, blood pressure and glob al cerebral blood flow. The study group consisted of 33 newborn, spont aneously breathing, preterm infants randomly assigned to receive eithe r aminophylline 5 mg/kg (n = 19) or caffeine citrate 20 mg/kg (n = 14) . Two hours after iv drug administration, global cerebral blood flow m easured by the Xe-clearance technique was significantly lower after am inophylline than after caffeine (mean(SD)): 13.2 (+2.9/-2.3) versus 17 .2 (+7.1/-5.1) ml/100 g/min) (p = 0.01). There were no other statistic ally significant differences in circulatory or ventilatory parameters between the groups. Further studies are needed to clarify the clinical relevance of these results.